Traditional “open” surgical approaches to the spine and other organs typically involve extended longitudinal incisions, significant tissue disruption, and substantial blood loss. Recovery from these types of procedures may be prolonged and may involve significant morbidity. In addition to the above intraoperative difficulties and problems with rehabilitation, there is increasing evidence that “open” approaches may significantly devitalize tissue, predisposing to higher rates of infection.
In response to these problems and as a direct result of rising healthcare costs, increasing pressure to reduce hospital stays and improve patient recovery, physicians have expressed significant interest in performing surgical procedures through less invasive techniques. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is a term which encompasses a wide range of surgical interventions. All of these surgical interventions involve accomplishing a surgical goal which is similar to that of a traditional “open” technique using a technique which involves much less disruptive surgical dissection.
In no medical subspecialty has this type of approach sparked more interest than in that of spinal surgery. MIS approaches have been at the forefront of much recent literature. MIS has appeared to substantially decrease blood loss, complications, recovery times and hospital stays in comparison to traditional methods for procedures such as discectomy, decompression, and cervical and lumbar fusions.